The 2018 NCAA Division I men's soccer season was the 60th season of

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

championship men's

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United K ...

. The regular season began on August 24, 2018 and continued into the first weekend of November 2018. The season culminated with the four-team College Cup at Meredith Field at

Harder Stadium Harder Stadium is a 17,000-seat, outdoor multi-purpose stadium on the west coast of the United States, on the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara, California. It serves as the on-campus soccer stadium for ...

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Co ...

, December 7–9, 2018. There were 206 teams in men's Division I competition. The

Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divis ...

won their fourth NCAA title, defeating the

Akron Zips Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city pr ...

1–0.

Changes from 2017

Coaching changes

New programs

Mount St. Mary's University reinstated their men's soccer program, which had been dormant since the end of the 2012 season, for the 2018 season. The California Baptist Lancers began the transition from Division II to Division I and the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Texas. Due to mos ...

in 2018–19. The

UC San Diego Tritons The UC San Diego Tritons are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, San Diego. UC San Diego has 23 varsity sports teams and offers student participation in a wide range of sports. As of July 1, 2020, all UC San Diego team ...

will begin the transition from Division II to Division I and will join the

Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...

in 2020–21. The Merrimack Warriors will begin the transition from Division II to Division I and will join the

Northeast Conference The Northeast Conference (NEC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Teams in the NEC compete in Division I for all sports; football competes in the Division I Foo ...

in 2019–20.

Discontinued programs

Hartwick College Hartwick College is a private liberal arts college in Oneonta, New York. The institution's origin is rooted in the founding of Hartwick Seminary in 1797 through the will of John Christopher Hartwick. In 1927, the Seminary moved to expand into a ...

, the only Division III school competing in Division I men's soccer for some years moved to Division III with the school's other sports. Despite the program's many successes, the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

's Board of Regents, for economic reasons, voted to discontinue the men's soccer program, along with three other sports teams, after the 2018 season.

Conference realignment

NOTE 1: The Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners will move from the

to the

on July 1, 2020. NOTE 2: The team formerly known as the Fort Wayne Mastodons officially changed its athletic identity to the

Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons The Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons, formerly known as the IPFW Mastodons and Fort Wayne Mastodons, are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Purdue University Fort Wayne (PFW). The school's athletic program includes 16 varsity sports t ...

on June 18, 2018, shortly before the creation of Purdue University Fort Wayne (PFW). Previously, the PFW athletic program represented Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW), but the

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

and

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...

systems agreed to dissolve IPFW on July 1, 2018, with each system establishing a separate Fort Wayne campus. The IPFW athletic program transferred to PFW, representing only that institution, and remains a member of Division I and the

Summit League The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States from Illinois on the East of the Mississippi River to the Dakotas and Nebraska on the W ...

. NOTE 3: After six years of divisional play, with home-and-home series within the divisions, the

teams will be playing a single, eight-team, seven game schedule. This move comes two years before Cal State Bakersfield moves in to make the Big West a nine team league. NOTE 4:

Central Arkansas Central Arkansas, also known as the Little Rock metro, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metro area in the U.S. state o ...

announced on September 6 that its men's soccer program would leave its associate membership in the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest. History The MVC was established ...

after the 2018 season and join the Sun Belt Conference as an Associate Member.

Season overview

Pre-season polls

Regular season

The regular season began on August 24, 2018 and ended in early November 2018.

Headlines

* October 3 – Long Island University announced that its two current athletic programs—the Division I LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds and the Division II LIU Post Pioneers—would merge into a single Division I athletic program under the LIU name after the 2018–19 school year. The unified program, which will maintain LIU Brooklyn's Division I and

memberships, will announce a new nickname at a later date. With both campuses sponsoring men's soccer, the two teams will become a single LIU team based at the Post campus in

Nassau County, New York Nassau County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of New York. At the 2020 U.S. census, Nassau County's population is 1,395,774. The county seat is Mineola and the largest town is Hempstead. Nassau County is situated on western Long Isl ...

in the 2019 season.

#1

Conference standings

Major upsets

In this list, a "major upset" is defined as a game won by a team ranked 10 or more spots lower or an unranked team that defeats a team ranked #15 or higher. All rankings are from the United Soccer Coaches Poll.

Early season tournaments

Several universities hosted early season soccer tournaments.

TopDrawer Soccer Team of the week

* Bold denotes TDS player of the week.

Postseason

Conference winners and tournaments

^† = A & C denote the Atlantic and Coastal divisions of the ACC.

Postseason awards

Hermann Trophy

* The Hermann Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player. Finalists: **

Andrew Gutman Andrew David Gutman (born October 2, 1996) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a left-back for Major League Soccer club Atlanta United. Career Youth and college Prior to college soccer, Gutman played high school soccer for ...

(DF),

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

** Andre Shinyashiki (FW),

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

** J. J. Williams (FW),

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

TDS National Player of the Year

* The

TopDrawerSoccer.com National Player of the Year Award TopDrawerSoccer.com (TDS) is an American association football, soccer website that is dedicated to youth soccer in the United States. Specifically, the website focuses on Academy soccer, high school soccer, and college soccer in the United States ...

recognizes the top college soccer player in the nation by the TDS staff. Finalists: **

(DF),

** Donovan Pines (DF),

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

** Andre Shinyashiki (FW),

** J. J. Williams (FW),

Senior CLASS Award

* The Senior CLASS Award is presented each year to the most outstanding senior in NCAA Division I. Finalists: ** Andre Shinyashiki (FW),

** Ryder Bell (FW), William & Mary ** Alex Comsia (DF),

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

** Brad Dunwell (MF), Wake Forest ** Mark Forrest (FW), Lehigh **

DeJuan Jones DeJuan Lytelle Jones (born June 24, 1997) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Major League Soccer club New England Revolution and the United States national team. Early life Prior to playing collegiately at ...

(FW), Michigan State ** Daniel Krutzen (DF), Albany ** Robbie Mertz (MF),

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

** Callum Montgomery (DF),

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

** Tate Schmitt (FW),

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

All-Americans

On December 6, 2018; United Soccer Coaches announced the All-America teams for the 2018 season.

Conference player and coaches of the year

Final rankings

Statistics

Individuals

Last update on 12/10

* ''Individual statistics are through the games of December 9, 2018''

Teams

Last update on 12/13

Last update on 12/13 *''Team statistics are through the games of December 9, 2018''